The HalfBloods From Hawaii
by daymarefire
Summary: Three Half-Bloods from Hawaii must make their way to camp. It's a long way filled with danger but the true story begins when the world is ravaged by an unknown force, and the friends must find and stop the ones behind it. Rated T for language. R&R.
1. Apollon Pride

My name is Arges Geros. I am camping in the mountains of Hawaii with my friends Sophia Elpis and Apate Dolos. We were drawn together by the... odd happenings that seem to follow us where ever we go. But how were we to know that these things could have more to do with who our parents were than who we were.

I had wandered away from the campsite into the forest and had sat under a sunny oak with my home-made bow. I hung my quiver upon the lowest branch, unslung my guitar from my back and began to play. I played and with every note the sun grew brighter and brighter, and then I stopped.

The wind was very strong and it had whipped my hair into my face. As I brushed it away I was surprised to find a woman dressed in a light blue dress and shawl leaning against a nearby tree. The wind whipped around her but it seemed to only effect her as would a light breeze.

"Hello child."She said in an airy voice.

"What? Oh...Hello. Uh...Who are you?"

"Oh, well that isn't a very polite question to ask." She shrugged. "Such is the way of today's youth, no manners. Oh well, you'll still make a fine trophy."

"What?" I had no time to question her further because at that moment she flew at me. I jumped quickly to my right dropping my guitar in favor of my bow. But my quiver hung from the tree behind her. I ran to her right in an effort to get to it but she was faster and she slammed into me. But I ran right through her. She was shockingly cold, my lungs hurt, my muscles seized up and I could see my breath even in the eighty degree Hawaiian forest.

"Ha ha ha. Cold, isn't it? I am The Aurai Khione Bouno, I am the breeze of mountain snow. I will bring death and sleep to those who do not respect me. And... of course half-bloods." I didn't know what she meant but it didn't matter, no matter what she said she was in fact intangible, I couldn't touch her.

But there was no way I could run away, she was much faster than me, I had to try to fight. I ran to my quiver and drew a single arrow spilling a few others in my haste. As I spun around I notched it in my bow, I took aim and released the arrow. As the arrow flew through the air there was a flash and it began to burn as brightly as the sun itself. As it flew into her she screamed in agony and burst into mist.

I stood there unable to comprehend what had just happened. When I had finally recovered I gathered together my spilled arrows and reslung my quiver on my back. I started making my way back to the campsite. I had to tell the others what had just happened and make sure that they were safe. But most of all I didn't want to be alone.

As I reentered the campsite everything seemed normal. The three tents we had been using still stood in a circle around the fire pit, and the log that we had moved next to the fire for a seat was still there. Sitting there taking in the fire's warmth was Sophia.

"Sophia!" I called to her.

"Oh, hey Arges. What's wrong?" She asked seeing the distressed look on my face.

I recounted to her the story of being attacked and my arrow bursting into flames. When I finished she sat there taking it in and said; "Are you sure you're okay? Because that story sounds kind of, well..."

She was cut off by the sound of Apate yelling; "Help!" In the distance.

She quickly pulled her pocket knife from her pocket and said, "We'll talk more about this later. Come on." And with that she was off.

Now I'm not exactly a fast runner so she quickly left me panting far behind. I may have been good with a bow, but that in no way imparted agility as one of my stronger points, so as I finally caught up I saw standing over them what I could only describe as a monster. A gigantic scorpion about twenty feet tall with a stinger dripping with poison hissed at them while they sat cowering at the base of a tree. I was going to have to watch them die and on top of that I would probably die as well.

Then a glint from the base of a nearby tree caught my attention. There sat a sword with the symbols 'Ακυρος' engraved on it. It was an odd blade it was shaped like a falchion, appeared to be made of bronze and some other black metal and it had three oval shaped holes of progressively shorter length at the edge that was away from the blade. As I looked at the symbols I found that I knew that they said 'Akuros' and that they meant Void.

I grabbed the sword and felt a tag stuck to the hilt, but I didn't have time to read it. I held the sword in my hand getting used to it's weight and then I rushed forward. I reached it just as it got ready to strike at my friends with it's tail and slashed at the tail. My sword bounced off it's armor like skin but it turned towards me and away from my friends, so that was a good thing. It tried to strike me but I rolled to the side and struck it's face. It recoiled and clipped me with a claw. It hurt, bad and I had no way to know how deep it was. Just then a branch fell from one of the trees over head onto the back of the scorpion. I took my chance I rushed forward and thrust my sword deep into a chink in it's skin behind the head.

The scorpion was dead. I looked up into the tree and saw saw Sophia and Apate in the tree. They had cut loose the branch with Sophia's knife. They began to climb down and as they reached the bottom Apate fell.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He started to laugh. "That was fun."

"Oh, get up." I helped him up. It was then that I remembered the tag. I looked at the sword it said;

_Dear Arges,_

_You have grown strong over the years and I am sorry that I could not be there for you. But now that I see all things under the sun, and always helped you along now the time has come that my help must, for the most part, end. This is my last gift to you my son, this is Akuros, the Void._

_Wishing you the best,_

_Your Father._

The thing that baffled me most about the letter was that I had never known my father. Yet another thing that had drawn Apate, Sophia and I together. Apate had never known his father either and Sophia had never known her mother. But now it appeared that my father had been watching me my whole life and now had given me a sword at the exact moment I needed to use it to kill a giant scorpion. It confounded me. I turned to my friends to tell them what it said, but they were staring a place right above my head. I looked up and saw a small holographic gold bow spinning above my head.


	2. Dionysus's Kid

I had no idea what it meant. I was confused and wanted answers. Well I guess my father whoever he was knew that to, because just then a voice came from behind me.

"Oh, A child of Apollo. Can you tell your friends that I didn't appreciate what they did to my tree?" I turned around and there was a girl leaning out form inside the tree that Sophia and Apate had cut the branch from.

I was so surprised that I exclaimed; "What the hell? Who are you?"

As I said it I regretted it because I thought she might leave or like the other girl attack. Instead she just Gave me a stern look and said. "My name," She shot me another dirty look as if I should know it. "Is Lehua, and I am a dryad." And then I understood. It was amazing after years of pouring over Greek mythology book that I hadn't caught on yet. The woman who attacked me was an Aurai, a breeze. The scorpion had been Scorpio who had chased Orion. Then there was her, a dryad, a spirit of the trees.

The 'odd' occurrences of my life made sense as well. The sandstorm that had chased me around the playground in third grade had been an Anemoi a storm wind. Of course it didn't explain what it had to do with me.

"Uh... why are we being attacked by monsters?" I asked.

"Knowing would only put you in more danger. But I will tell you this, go north and find the centaurs of this island. Once you're with them you'll be... safe? Any way they can tell you more. Goodbye child of Apollo and good luck." With that she sunk into the tree.

"Well that was... confusing." I turned to the others and said.

They nodded.

"Well," I said. "You heard her. We're northward bound." I pointed north with my sword.

"Wait wait wait. Don't you think we should tell our parents what happened?" Sophia asked.

"No time. I don't want to meet another monster before we get to the centaurs. Although..." I thought about the myths about the centaurs and how they would get drunk and kidnap women and ransack parties.

"Although what?"

"I am a tad wary of the centaurs and what they might be like. They were pretty rowdy in Greek myths."

"Well there's nothing we can do about that." Apate said, speaking his opinion finally. "We'll call our parents along the way.

And that was what we did. I had a good idea of where the centaurs would be and so did Apate. I was the only one of us who had lived in Hawaii my entire life. Apate had lived up north where the centaurs supposedly were a few years ago and had only moved back recently this time on the west side of the island. Sophia had lived here longer but mostly sticking to the west side of the island.

The north side of the island was home to the poneolos the Hawaiian cowboys. There were wide open plains and hills that stretched for miles. That was where I knew we would find the centaurs. It was a good eighty miles so despite much argument from me we hitchhiked and caught a ride. At first it went fine, we caught rides from people going ten miles or so then we'd get off at their stop and keep walking.

Then one time, while we were walking a man started jogging up behind us. He was wearing a red jogging suit, kinda weird for Hawaii, and he had sharp features. At least I assumed he jogged up behind us because none of us saw him until he was right behind us and he said, "Excuse me I have a package for a Mister Apate Dolos and another for a Miss Sophia Elpis."

We all stopped dead in our tracks. This was very creepy not only did a jogger walk up and start talking to us, but he already knew our names or at least Sophia and Apate's. But then he pulled out a pen but it wasn't a pen, it was a small caduceus the symbol of the god Hermes. I saw the others who had no clue what it meant get ready to fight but I knew who he was and what that would mean for us.

I stopped them by stepping between them and the god. I said "Lord Hermes it is a pleasure to meet you." While the others seemed to be confused by this at first, slowly understanding passed over their faces.

Then the god said; "Oh, you found me out." He shrugged. "I guess it wasn't exactly a secret. Well anyway please sign this for your packages." He passed a clipboard with a sheet on it and the caduceus pen to Sophia and then to Apate.

However when Apate was signing one of the snakes on the caduceus began to speak. "Your penmanship is terrible."

The other spoke up . "A lot better than you could do George. Your hand writing is fine sweety." Apate stared in awe at the snakes. And then he suddenly dropped it like it had caught fire.

"Ahh! Snakes!" We all laughed even the god. The snakes however were not so thrilled to be dropped.

"Hey! Don't do that! That hurt." Yelled the snake named George.

"Well you think you'd be used to it by now it happens ever time." Said the other. At this point they began to bicker but we weren't listening. We were looking at Hermes who had pulled two boxes out of, seemingly, thin air. One was about five feet long and seven inches wide however was only about two inches thick. The other was about three feet long seven inches wide and a little more than an inch thick.

The smaller one was for Sophia and the longer for Apate. The god gave the packages to them, bid us farewell and left. Leaving us standing on the side of the road with two cardboard boxes with who knows what in them.

We knew we had to keep moving so we continued down the road while Sophia and Apate opened their boxes. Sophia had gotten a bronze xiphos and a letter. While Apate had gotten a spear with a wooden handle and a bronze head with a letter as well.

Sophia's letter read;

_Dear Sophia,_

_I have not seen you since I gave you to your father fourteen years ago. I do not know what has happened in your life or what you have become, but Apollo tells me that the time has com that you need our help. I give you this xiphos with the hope that you will use it wisely._

_With Love,_

_Your Mother._

Apate wouldn't let us read his letter he said that it was personal. I thought it was a bit out of character for him but didn't question it. Of course based on what Sophia and mine had been it was from his missing parent as well, his father.

Soon we made it into cattle land where the centaurs were. After a little asking around we found out that there was a herd of horses that lived in the hills nearby that no one had ever seen but who left hove prints all over the hills.

We made our way to the hills they had pointed us to. I didn't know how we would find if they had never been found before. We searched all day and found nothing. We set up camp in the hills for the night. While sitting around the fire that night I began to play my guitar. As I reached the end of the song we began to hear noises at the edge of the firelight.

Then the centaurs advanced. They were a odd bunch of creatures, they wore beer hats and leather straps on their legs that were very reminiscent of cowboy boots. They had bows that looked normal but their arrows were shaped like boxing gloves and they carried paint-ball guns.

One stepped forward. "Hey kid. You must be a son of Apollo playin' songs like 'at."

"What do you mean child of Apollo?"

"Oh, you don't know? Well then let us tell you. Well ya' know those Greek myths ya' learned in school? Well those are real."

"Ya we gathered that."

"Kay, well y'all are the kids of 'em gods." Well that made sense. I couldn't believe I hadn't pieced it together, I was so dull.

I asked the obvious question. So I'm a child of Apollo who are they the kids of?" I indicated Apate and Sophia.

"Couldn't tell ya. They get any spinnin' things above their heads?"

"No but I did."

"Ta be expected you been claimed son."

"Well what do we do now?"

"Y'all gonna have ta get ta Camp Half-Blood over in New York."

"Can you take us?"

"Naw can't do that sorry. We like Apollo 'n all but we wouldn't even leave the island for one a his kids." Just then a glowing symbol spun into appearance above Apate's head. It was a grape vine and I knew what it meant, he was a child of Dionysus the god of Wine.


	3. The Rainbow

I knew that it couldn't have been a coincidence, the gods were sending us a sign that the centaurs would give a ride to a child of Dionysus. I made a quick decision and went with it. "But you would give a ride to a child of Dionysus.

"Oh, well... o' course we would. Well we got this party in Fresno we were gonna go to anyhow. Ya can go with us tomorrow. If ya can be ready to go."

"We will be." I said.

The centaurs answered our questions for the next few minutes until we felt like we knew enough to relax. That night we slept better than I thought we would after what had happened that day. I personally felt that the centaurs would be on the watch to keep safe the son of Dionysus. They adored the god of wine. He was a good friend of the centaurs and they wanted to do their best to keep their friend's son safe. Who knew the consequences of a god's wrath.

But it made me wonder about what Apate's letter said. That night after being awoken by a nightmare where I was attacked by a giant monster on the shores of a lake, I snuck into Apate's tent. I quietly opened his bag and took out the letter. It read;

_  
For Apate,_

_Ya, sis tells me I gotta write you a letter and give you a weapon. Here's a spear to keep yourself at a distance from danger, you and your brothers you're not fighters. I hear you're traveling with two other Half-Blooded kids, let me give you some advice. Let them fight hang back and make it here safe._

_With Something,_

_Your Father._

I didn't know why he would hide it from us. I mean there were plenty of reasons I just couldn't think which one would bother him enough to hide it from us. The one thing I dreaded was that he would take his father's advice and sacrifice us to make it to camp. It seemed like something he would do, he was a friend but not someone to trust.

The next morning we left. I had decided not to tell Sophia about the letter and just to keep an eye on Apate. The centaurs galloped across the water just as well as the land and in only half an hour I saw land on the horizon. We made it to land and they dropped us off a few minutes later in front of a sign that said 'Fresno 7 miles'.

"Y'all jus' keep down that road and it'll take ya ta Las Vegas. Be careful there though there 're a lot more dangerous things in Vegas that just monsters for Half-Bloods." Then the centaurs galloped away. Leaving us standing in the road.

"They were cool." Apate said as soon as they cantered out of sight.

"I think they were only acting that way for your sake." Sophia replied.

"What do yo mean?"

"I mean that they were trying to protect you because you were a son of Dionysus."

"She's right you know." I broke in. "The centaurs don't do anything but party and Dionysus was always right there along side them. Oh and we should probably walk while we talk."

"I don't know they didn't seem like they would change just to make someone happy."

"Ya but you have to remember that this isn't just someone." I said. "This is an olympian god. Like vultures pecking out your liver if you make me mad, olympian god."

"Well maybe. I guess."

We continued our walk in silence for a few miles. Until Sophia said; "Oh! Look a rainbow." Apate and I looked up and saw it. It was the most beautiful rainbow I had ever seen. It was vibrant and the colors almost seemed like it was really up there and not just light. Then I saw it. I small growing dot coming at us from the top of the rainbow. As it got closer I saw it was a woman, the others must have noticed her too because we all stopped walking and looked up at her.

As she came closer I saw her better. She had golden, not blonde, but golden hair and wings of the same color. She looked like she could only be sixteen and she had eyes that cycled through every color in the rainbow. They were hypnotizing changing from green to blue to purple to red and on and on. She landed lightly in front of us and looked down at us.

"Oh, Hello my little half-blooded cousins!" Her voice sounded high pitched, but not annoyingly or painfully high. Just enough to make her sound like she looked, unworldly but also like a very high strung high-schooler. "I came to ask you for a favor."

"Uh... Okay but first tell us who you are." Sophia replied.

"Huh? Oh sorry I gotta dress like this for work." She began to glow all colors of the rainbow and her cloths shifted until she was in a rainbow tie-die tank-top and white skinny jeans. She had big golden hoop earrings and a necklace that said Iris on it.

"Oh!" The necklace made me understand. "You're the goddess Iris."

"Who?" Apate asked clearly confused.

"Iris," I said. "The goddess of rainbows and the hand maiden of the goddess Hera."

"I'm gonna go ahead and second Apate's who?" Sophia said.

Iris sighed. "No one ever knows who I am when they first meet me." Then she got a look on her face like she had just remembered something important. "Oh! I just remembered that I came here for a reason. I came here to ask you if you could do me a favor."

"Right, you said that." Sophia reminded her.

"Did I? Well any way I have a daughter. She's in a place in Las Vegas called the Lotus Hotel and Casino. I need you to go save her." 

"So why don't you go get her?" Apate asked.

"Gods and goddesses aren't allowed to interfere with the affairs of mortals. It's so frustrating! She's been there for two years and I haven't been able to do anything about it."

"Wait two years? What kind of place is this?" Sophia asked.

"It's a place." The goddess explained. "Where time slows to a crawl. She probably has only been there about a day by what she's experiencing. Also anyone who goes inside never wants to leave."

"Well how are we suppose to get her out then?" Sophia pointed out. "Won't we just get caught by the Hotel too?"

"I don't know. I feel badly asking you kids but the west coast has been having less and less demi-gods coming through lately and even the ones who do come from the west are told to avoid Vegas. There is no one else I can ask. Please will you help me?"

I saw in her eyes that she was desperate. And aside from that I didn't want to know what happens when you say no to a goddess. "Okay." I said. "We'll do it."

"Oh thank you so much." She rushed up and hugged me and then the other two. "I'll take you there and if you save my daughter I'll take you all with me to Camp Half-Blood. Come on follow me." The rainbow in the distance began to turn towards us and after a few seconds it made a bridge leading from where we were off into the distance. "Follow me."

She lead us up the bridge and in only a few seconds we were coming down the other side in Vegas. We were out front of an old building with a big neon sign; Lotus Hotel and Casino: The Funnest Place on Earth!

"Good luck." She began to walk away with the rainbow dissolving behind her leaving us stranded until we completed our task. We turned back around towards the hotel and stared at it's annoyingly bright lights. I thought how easily colors like that could draw in a child of the rainbow.

"Well," I said. "We won't get to New York just standing here. Let's go in."

"Is that a good idea?" Sophia asked.

"Of course it is. It's the only way." With that Apate ran inside.

"Aw hell what are we going to do?" I asked Sophia.

"I don't know." We thought about it for a bit. "Okay. I got it. You know that Mist stuff the centaurs told us about?"

"Ya."

"Well this place slows time so it is probably blocked from view by that stuff."

"And?"

"So no one would miss it if we say... blew it up."

"What!? How would we do that?"

"Well... I don't know but go inside and keep Apate safe and I'll stay out here and think."

"But.. okay."

"Good luck."


	4. Exploding Hotels

I walked up to the front door. I took a deep breath and stepped inside. It was amazing. The building had a hole in the floor between each floor so that from the bottom floor you could see the ceiling at the top. The first five floors were filled with games. Big arcade games with hunting and all manner of driving games and similar stuff.

A man, I assumed an employee, came up to me and said; "Hello sir and welcome to the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Here is your room key, room three-oh-six, and here is your hotel cash card. It can be used to play any of the games. Have a fun stay." Then he scampered away.

I had to admit with all the knowledge I had of Greek myths I couldn't think of anything that could do this. Then as I surveyed the scene I saw him. Apate was off in the corner at a computer that was on a table with four of them on it. I decided, as if I had forgotten all of what I was doing at the time, to go over and join him.

He was working on a computer program something I had never really gotten the hang of so I sat down next to him and tried to check my email. It was more of an impulse than actually thinking that I had an email. I called over an employee. "What gives? I can't access my email."

"Why would you want to?"

"Uh..." He had me I didn't know why I wanted it I just thought of it as a given. "But it has internet so why doesn't it have email.?"

"Don't worry sir, I'll call a manager to field your complaint." He walked away and a few seconds later a woman was walking up to me. She was fat and wore so much make up that you couldn't see any part of her real face. She was wearing a Vegas show girl outfit that was really revealing, it almost made me throw up.

"Hello sir," She spoke with a sickly sweet voice. "I hear you're having com..." At this point there was a rumbling like something far off exploding. Then it was suddenly louder. I remembered why I was here and who I was, things I had forgotten. The other kids that were playing the other games seemed to feel a similar effect. The woman's voice turned angry. "What have you done half-blood?"

I ran. Partly to get away from her, partly to do what I had come here to do. She wasn't hard to pick out of the crowd. She had her mother's hair, and her eyes changed colors like her mother's but they stayed within a human spectrum and changed much slowly. Aside from that she had tie-die just as bright as her mother's. The really odd thing was that she looked like she was about fourteen. It was the first time I had never thought about it but Iris had to have been using a younger body than she would be normally to have kids of any age.

I ran up to the girl and said the first thing that came to mind; "I was sent by your mother to come find you." She seemed to understand and nodded.

At this point she had to yell to be heard over the commotion as more explosions could be heard, the walls cracked and spell broke that had clouded the mind of the kids. She said; "My name is Nephe Doris, thanks for the help."

I looked around and couldn't see Apate I assumed he had made it out. "Come on" I cried. I grabbed Nephe by the hand and led her toward the door. As we neared the exit I heard screaming behind us. I looked back and saw the woman in the show girl outfit half running, half waddling towards us and she did not look happy.

We broke out of the door and saw Sophia messing with a box that looked kind of like a car battery on the ground next to the wall. I ran up to her and said; "Hey what's that?"

"You have really bad timing." She stood up and ran. I didn't need to ask why. The thing was a car battery but it had some other stuff attached to it. I knew this was the thing, well maybe not this one exactly but other ones that had caused the explosions. Nephe and I ran over to Sophia. As we turned back towards the building we saw what I would assume to be the last of the kids filing out. Then the battery detonated. The kids ran but it didn't look like anyone was hit.

Then, the building collapsed. There was dust and smoke obscuring my view as suddenly the world was thrown into chaos. The worst thing was that it wasn't clearing. The smoke and dust lingered long after it should have. Then came the screams from the direction that the Lotus Hotel had just been. Each second the scream of pain or terror of a different person. It was getting closer. Then I heard it.

"You little brat! You destroyed my Palace of Vice." The voice was that of the woman. I thought again but could still not think of a Greek myth that could explain who she was. Even with this new information that she had something to do with Vice I hadn't a clue. "No matter, I can rebuild. But first I am going to kill you!" I saw the dust swirl to my right so I drew my sword and slashed. "Ahhh! Damn that hurt. I will get you. My brothers and sisters and I can control the hearts of weak humans. That's how we got Pandora to open that cursed jar."

Well at least knew who she was now. She was the spirit of Vice from Pandora's Box. I still couldn't remember a name but a known enemy is better than an unknown enemy. "Alright." I cried into the dust. "Come at me then."

"Ha! You'll regret ever picking a fight with me you..." Her voice died away. Then the smoke settled. Sophia had snuck up behind her and stabbed her in the back with her sword.

"Pegainete ston Tartarus, skula!" That confused me. I knew it was Greek because reading the myths had taught me what the words sounded like. But I also understood what they meant (something I would prefer not to repeat), and apart from that to the best of my knowledge she didn't know Greek either. The whole situation confused me and apparently Sophia as well because she looked just as confused as I did. She walked away from the body of her fallen adversary who was now turning to dust. "Did... did I just speak Greek?"

"Uh, ya. That was odd. Wait where is Nephe and Apate?" I had just noticed that Nephe had disappeared in the commotion and of course we had never found Apate.

"Nephe?" Sophia looked at me quizzically. "Who?"

"Oh, that was the name of the daughter of Iris."

"Oh, well I saw a girl leave with you but I didn't see Apate..." She trailed off staring into the wreckage. I followed her eye's and saw what had stunned her to silence. There sticking out of the wreckage was a bronze spear.

We stood there for a long time, just looking at the last reminder of our friend. At some point Nephe walked over but saw what we were looking at and must have put together what had happened and just walked a bit away and sat down. I had never exactly thought about what it would feel like if Apate died, but I knew I would never have thought it would feel like this. We had argued often, we hadn't been best friends but we had been good friends. We had hung out almost everyday and this whole 'demi-god' thing had really put an end to most of our arguing. We had become better friends just in time for him to be killed.

After a long time I walked through the rubble and up to the spear. I unscrewed the head which I only now saw had a grape vine inset on it. I picked up a bit of what looked like the chains they used to keep the guns attached to the shooting arcade games and secured the spear head to my belt.

It was dark so there was no chance that Iris would be coming to pick us up any time soon. Which was good because I knew that it wouldn't be too hard for me to convince myself that this was her fault. I walked back down the rubble to where Sophia and Nephe were and said; "Let's go. I don't feel like fighting anymore monsters tonight."

Nephe stood up and grabbed Sophia's hand. She lead her over to me and we all together walked down the street and out onto the Vegas strip. It was bright and overly flashy. I noticed in passing the Luxor and a few other casinos that Apate had told me about. He had been to Vegas a lot in his travels, he said it was his favorite city. I was sad that he had to die here.

We walked through the entire city and out into the desert. We got a mile out before we finally sat down on a sand bank at the side of the road. We sat there for hours. I fell asleep for a few minutes once but was awoken by nightmares of grape vines strangling me. We sat until the sun rose over the mountains in the distance.

At the moment that it rose I heard a noise next to me. I looked over and saw a young man, about eighteen. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, a tad cliché I thought but he definitely fit the stereotype for beauty. I was about to cry out in surprise when he made a shushing motion and pointed at the girls next to me who I saw were sleeping. I kept quite deciding for the moment that he was not a threat. But I whispered; "Who are you?"

He laughed quietly. "I'm hurt that you don't recognize me." He made a pouting face.

I thought about the circumstances of his arrival and I thought of a possibility. "D...dad?"

"Ah, good boy. Took your brothers and sisters about three times as long to figure that out when they first met me."

"Wait brothers and sisters?"

"You didn't think you were the only son of Apollo did you?"

"Well I guess I never really thought about it. I've been too busy trying not to die."

"Ha! You shouldn't worry about that too much. I think you could handle much worse than Kakia."

"Damn! That's who it was. I can't believe I didn't remember that." I began to feel a bit higher spirits. My father seemed to radiate happiness.

"Ya well I've come to deliver a message."

"From who?"

"Iris. She over stepped the line of interference according to Zeus. The way he sees it if she hadn't sent you to save her daughter you wouldn't have blown up the hotel. On top of that since she didn't make a binding oath to help you that her punishment takes president over her agreement with you."

"So she's not taking us to New York?"

"No, I'm sorry."

"Well you have the sun chariot. Can you take us?"

"The sun chariot goes only west." I sighed. We were stuck and more than that Apate had died for nothing. I mean I was happy that we saved Nephe but she could have stayed there a few more years. Apate didn't have to die. "There's only one person who I know could think of a way to help you." Apollo said.

"Who?"

"The goddess Athena."

"Why would she help us?"

"Because she's Sophia's mother."


	5. Camp At Last

"What? Really?" I laughed. "Doesn't surprise me. I should have guessed. Well how can we get her help?"

"If Sophia asks for her help she will get it."

"Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome son. Now look away." At first I was going to question it but then I remembered that mortals would burst into flames if they saw a god in their celestial form. I averted my eyes and a great light came from where my father was. When I looked back he was gone.

I waited for the girls to wake up to tell them what had been told to me. Sophia closed her eyes and asked her mother for help. As if in answer (and I'm almost sure it was) the ground to our right rose up and made a cave like hole in the sand.

"What is it?" Nephe asked. Sophia looked at me and Nephe followed suit.

"Hey, I don't know. The ground opened up for a lot of different reasons in Greek myths." We stood there a moment. "Well should we... should we go in?"

"I don't know." Nephe replied. "The last time I went into a place that seemed to answer my problems I was stuck there for two years."

"Wait," Sophia said. "We never explained that to you. How do you know?"

"My mother told me in a dream last night." I had been having odd dreams so I didn't question it, I guess the same was true for Sophia because she remained quiet as well.

"Well," I said. "My father said that if you asked Athena for help she would give us help. So I'm going in. Are you coming with me?" Both girls looked at each other clearly asking the other to dispute me. When neither did I walked over to the cave and looked inside. Then I walked in. They quickly followed.

It was dark, but not so dark that I couldn't see. Even once we got further into the cave than light normally would have come I could still see. That's when I realized that I was glowing. I knew why, I was the son of Apollo. Still it came as a shock to me. I started to talk to Nephe to pass the time. We introduced ourselves and started to share stories to pass the time. We walked and talked for maybe a few minutes before we came to a large room. It was covered in mosaics of the Greek gods. In the middle of the room was a tall woman with blonde hair and deep gray eyes. An owl sat perched on her shoulder and she carried a spear. The first thought that came to mind was 'she looks just like Sophia.' From this I knew who this woman must be, She was the goddess Athena.

"Hello, my daughter." She smiled at Sophia.

I didn't know what to do. The other gods I had met had been very casual. Athena however gave off an air of pride and control that I would rather not contest. In the end I bowed at her and stepped off to the side of the room. Nephe followed suit. Sophia approached her mother with caution. Then the goddess hugged her. It was actually slightly funny being that Sophia was only five-two and the goddess could have easily been six-ten.

As the goddess stood back up she said; "This is all that is left of the once great and expansive Labyrinth. It collapsed a few years ago but I have rebuilt this part so that you could make it to Camp. But beware," She looked around at all of us. "Just ahead is the greatest beast you have fought yet. Dionysus has agreed to help you by sending some other demi-gods to assist you. However they cannot help you here. You must fight here yourself. My daughter take this." She handed Sophia a bracelet.

"What is it?" Sophia asked her mother.

It's a charm that will make you a great tactician as long as you wear it. But it will only work for you, no one else. May it serve you well." Sophia put her mother's gift onto her wrist. "Good luck all of you. Avert your eyes." Nephe and I did without question but Sophia had to be told before she understood and turned away as well. There was a great flash and Athena was gone.

We all looked at each other knowing that any of us might go the way of Apate. After a time we continued down the path until we came into the sunlight. The first thing I saw was a gigantic boar. It was the Erymanthian Boar from the fourth labor of Hercules.

It was big with tusks as thick as trees and it looked like it might possibly be rabid. I had only one thought 'Fuck.' The ground closed behind us and I knew there would be no running. I drew my bow and an arrow. I pulled back the bow. "Wait." Sophia whispered. "Wait until I tell you and then shoot it in the eye, and don't dodge until the last second. Got it?"

"Ya." The others had drew their weapons as well. I noticed for the first time that Nephe had a double ended poleaxe.

Then Sophia said; "Now." I let fly my arrow and it stuck in the Boar's eye. He charged us or more likely me. I dove to the side right as it was about to hit me. I quickly stood up and tried to strike it's hind legs with Akuros. I missed but had managed to escape harm. I saw that Sophia had climbed a tall rock on the hill that was right next to us. As the Boar barreled by she jumped onto it's head. I would assume that she meant to stab it but the Boar rolled over crushing her under it. It came back around and rushed me again. Filled with rage rather than dodging this time, at the last second I hit the ground and stuck my sword up. It dropped it's head and hit me full force, but I had managed to cut down the entire length of it's jaw.

As I drifted out of consciousness I heard first screaming and then the sound of the Boar squealing then a sudden end. I didn't however have time to question it as I passed out.

I woke up looking up at a wooden plank that I soon realized was part of the bunk bed that I was laying in. I tried to sit up but found I was so sore that I couldn't. A boy who looked about eighteen years old rushed over and leaned over me. He looked like my father so much that I had no doubt that this boy was my brother."Whoa! Slow down guy. You have like seven broken bones. You'd do better to be asleep right now. I'm gonna give you a medicine to help you sleep okay?" I mumbled a response. "Okay." He pored a syrup down my throat that made me a little drowsy.

"Okay, that'll take a few seconds to kick in so let me give you some of this so you can actually taste it for once." He poured a little of some different liquid down my throat. It was the most amazing thing ever, it tasted like honey and cinnamon and so many other things that I couldn't place. I fell asleep again is bliss.

When I awoke again knew I shouldn't try to sit up again until I knew that it wouldn't hurt me. I tried my voice and found I could speak. "Hello?" I heard shuffling in the room and this time and girl leaned over me. I could tell that she was my sister although she looked a tad younger than me maybe thirteen.

"Oh, Hi sleepy welcome back to the land of the waking. Have a nice nap?"

"Uh? Where am I?"

"You are in Camp Half-Blood. You're safe here." I gave a sigh of relief we had made it. "I guess you know about it then? Good. It's almost noon I'll open the blinds for you." She opened the blinds of a large window right behind the bed I was in. It let in light and a rather odd sight. A large common area surrounded by cabins, each with a different theme it seemed like. One had plants growing every where even a grass roof. Another was made of pink marble and the door had a dove painted on it.

"What happened?"

"You fought the Erymanthian Boar."

"I know but what happened after I passed out?"

"You were saved by the camp's elite demi-gods. They are the children of Nike, Bia, Kratos and Zelos."

"Did... did they save my friends?"

"Oh, yes. Sophia is in the big house. I can take you by there later to see her, and Nephe is in her cabin with her sister. Oh and..." I heard the door open. I looked over and saw the boy from before.

"Hey, Michelle is he awake?" The boy asked. "Oh, looks like he is." He walked over to me. "Hey man. Just gonna check ya. Okay?" I nodded. He grabbed my arm which I saw was in a cast and felt it. Then he touched my ribs which sent searing pain through my torso. They were broken. Then he pulled down my covers and picked up my leg which was also in a cast. "Eh, you seem like your recovering, I don't think you should move quite yet. I'll send Nephe and your other friend down." He got up and left.

Michelle sat down next to my bed. "That was Kyle Evergreen. He's the leader of our cabin."

"So we're set cabins based on what?" I asked her.

"Immortal Parent. You're a son of Apollo just like me and Kyle so you're here in Cabin five, Apollo's cabin." Then the door opened and in walked Nephe. She was in a cast but other than that she looked fine.

"Hey! Nephe nice to see you again." She walked over to me.

"Whoa. You looked pretty banged up." She said.

"You don't look like you got anything to bad."

"Na, it hit me with it's tusk and broke my poleaxe and the head hit me and broke my arm. It would have killed me if I hadn't been saved by Lucas and his cousins."

"Lucas?"

"He's the son of Nike. He and his cousins were the ones who saved us."

"Oh, ya I heard about them from Michelle." I indicated my sister. "How is Sophia?"

"She's been drifting out of consciousness for a day now."

"A day? How long have I been out?"

"Three days. They said that you would probably wake up yesterday, but they put you back to sleep because your bones were so broken that they didn't want to have to listen to you."

"Wow. I feel so loved." I said sarcasticly and I gave Nephe a smug smile. Then I looked past her and saw him. There standing in the door was someone I never thought I'd see again. It was Apate Dolos.


	6. Time and Pain

A few more comments would have been nice but I decided that the best way to spur them on was a new chapter. So once again please read and review I want another three reviews posted before I post the next chapter. So get to it. XD. Also I might go back and redo the previous chapters. It would mean nothing new for a while but it might make other stuff more fun to read so please weigh in on this idea in your review.

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I looked at my friend in amazement. "Hey dude. How ya feeling?" He asked.

"How...how are you alive?"

He acted like he didn't hear me and casually walked over to my bed. He sat down across from Michelle and whispered; "I can't tell you now talk to me later." Then he said louder. "It's good to see you again. I'm glad you're okay."

I was a little confused by his earlier statement but I went along with it and moved on. "How's Sophia?"

"She's well... not good. She'll be out for a few more days. She's all broken up. I heard you guys fought the Eramenthaan Boar or something."

"Ya, the Erymanthian Boar. It was tough. It would have killed us if it wasn't for those other kids."

"Lucas, Elizabeth, Laura and Garret. They're the best fighters here."

"I'd like to meet 'em at some point. But right now I'm getting tired and I wanna sleep." The conversation had taken a lot out of me. I needed to rest.

The next few days went by marvelously. I finally got out of bed and saw the camp. There were like thirty-eight cabins all dedicated to different gods some even two or more. A boy named Nico who was about eighteen and a son of Hades said that one of his friends had more cabins built a few years back and that before that it had just been twelve cabins one for each Olympian.

Sophia woke up on the second day of me being out of bed and was walking around a few days after that. My brothers and sisters who as children of Apollo were also the medics of the camp said that they had been feeding us the food of the gods Nectar and Ambrosia to quicken the healing process. Every day we would practice archery (something that I had always been exceptional at but my skills paled in comparison to my brothers and sisters even though I could still easily beat Sophia and Apate both at it.) and other days we would climb the climbing wall that shot fire and lava.

I met the camp councilor who I was shocked to learn was Chiron the centaur who had taught many famous heros, and of course I met Apate's father Dionysus or Mr. D as he liked to be called who was the camp director. The poor old god was a rather sour person which I would assume could be attributed to the fact that he had been cut off of alcohol for angering Zeus.

But for this entire time if I ever brought up the fact that Apate had disappeared on our way here he would become very serious and tell me that now was not the time. I wondered about this for about two weeks until one day I was summoned to the Big House that sat on a hill adjacent to the Amphitheater where we ate our meals and made our offerings to the gods. As I walked into the room the leaders of all the main cabins sat around a table with Chiron and Mr. D.

There was Mortimer Kaine from Demeter cabin, Kirk Meriwether from Aphrodite, my brother Kyle, Sophia's sister Eve Johnson, Robert Kay from Ares, Suzanne Creed from Hephaestus, Apate's brother George Baron, Brian Steep from Hermes and in the corner leaning back in his chair was Nico Di Angelo. Apate was also there sitting next to his father, as was Sophia who was sitting next to her sister.

"Please," Chiron said. "Sit." I did. "Thank you. Now before we begin everyone here must swear on the river Styx that what is said here will not leave this room. I swore the oath as did everyone else. "Now Sophia, Arges you two must know some what why you're here."

"Ya," Sophia said. "It's about how Apate disappeared on our journey and ended up here."

"Yes," Chiron acknowledged. "It is about that. You see when the Lotus Hotel collapsed..."

"Wait," Nico stopped him. "The Lotus is gone?"

"Yes, Nico." He looked really happy to hear that. "Anyway as I was saying, when the Hotel was collapsing Mr. D here saw it as a perfect cover to pop in and save Apate here."

"Wouldn't have lasted much longer around you two." Mr. D interrupted. "Blowing things up all over the place, getting assaulted by giant pigs."

"However," Chiron continued. "Zeus saw the entire course of events that took place there as a large breech of the god's oath to never meddle in the affairs of humans. That is why Iris has been forced to return to Delphi in Greece traveling only as a human in order to be redeemed. It is for this reason that no one can know about this."

"Yes, We wouldn't want me to have to spend another hundred years here." Mr. D mocked. "So, we never speak of this again. Agreed?"

The room echoed with the voices of people repeating the word.

The next year passed pretty uneventfully. I became a year-round camper staying even through what the others considered a school year. Both Sophia and Apate went home to Hawaii for school knowing now that they could take a plane without being struck from the sky by Zeus their travels became much more tame.

I quickly found that I was the best sword fighter in my cabin although the only people from other cabins I could beat were from Aphrodite or something of the like. I was the second worst archer out of my brothers and sisters. The only person in my cabin I could beat was Abe Kerry who I only just beat. Of course that didn't mean I was at all bad because my brothers and sisters were the only ones who could beat me in camp. I also found that I was a very adept at healing and was second only to my sister Michelle Thurston who had been the one to heal me when I showed up at camp.

During one morning right after the talk I finally met the Camp's Elite. I saw them training in the sword arena. Their names were Lucas E. Lee, Laura Edwards, Garret Clark and Elizabeth Cossack. Lucas, Laura and Garret looked fairly similar. They all had the same brown hair and brown eyes although Garret was a tad on the short side and Laura was a bit taller than the rest. Then there was Elizabeth, she was even shorter than Garret and had blonde hair. She looked really out of place surrounded by her cousins.

I loved watching them spar though. It was no wonder they were elite fighters. Lucas had a longsword, Garret had a dueling sword and a shield. After that though the weapons got a little odd.

Laura had knuckles, like brass knuckles except they weren't bronze they were made of the same black metal as Akuros. I asked her about it and she said it was Stygian Iron and that it drew the life force from monsters that it hit and made it's self stronger.

Then their was little Elizabeth. She had a giant menacing spiked hammer that must have weighed more than she did. It was as tall as her and when she swung it the air would ripple. She was scary, I didn't talk with her much.

During my next few years there I also developed a relationship with Penelope Io leader of the Selene and Eos cabin. She was a daughter of Selene the goddess of the moon. She had hair the color of moonlight and she was the only person from another cabin that my brothers and sisters agreed sang as well as us. Still she was very different from us my sisters would always remind me.

To many people's surprise (even the children of Aphrodite who were generally very good at guessing couples) Sophia ended up dating Lucas. Even though it confused me at first, as time went on I saw how they could have ended up together. Lucas was easy going enough to where having a girlfriend who was smarter than him didn't bother him. And Sophia was a daughter of the goddess of war so it seemed to make sense that she would be attracted to someone who was so powerful.

Apate started dating June Kaine. She was the sister of Mortimer Kaine the head of Demeter cabin who had despised Apate ever since we were called into the big house and given the talk about the nature of Apate's arrival. When June had told her brother they had started dating him and Apate had squared off in the common in the middle of the cabins near the fire pit. Neither of them could fight physically but Apate, to our surprise had quite a green thumb and Mort wasn't the leader of Demeter cabin for nothing. Lucas and I had to pull them off each other after a minute or so because grape vines and apple trees had started to grow through the steps of the front most cabins.

Then one day during early January a year or so after I arrived a satyr that I had never seen before ran into camp. He went straight into the big house. I was getting some tips on archery from Kyle at the time. However a few minutes later Chiron called him up to the big house for a cabin leader meeting.

That night in the amphitheater Chiron announced that there would be a quest, although he wouldn't say what it was for. Then he said that the person to lead the quest would be Lucas. He was taken to the camp Oracle, Rachel Dare. I had met her before, the Apollo cabin really liked her because she was the oracle of our father, but she was also really upbeat just like us. However that can't have been how she acted when giving a prophecy. I'd only ever seen one person get a prophecy before a boy from the Hypnos cabin who had been promised a quest by his father. He had come down from the loft of the big house that Rachel lived in paper white, and he had had to recover for a few days before he left for his quest.

From what I could tell Lucas handled it significantly better. He came down at least looking calm. But I had hunted in the woods with my brothers often and I could see the same fear in his eyes that I saw in the eyes of monsters just before they turned to dust, the look of someone who knew that they were going to die.

He and Sophia said their goodbyes, but I could tell he knew that he would never see camp again even as he said; "See you again soon."

He left the next morning with his two cousins Elizabeth and Garret. He would have taken Laura as well but the rules were that only three people to a quest unless otherwise stated by the prophecy. However by that afternoon Laura was gone. Chiron ordered a search but we all knew that she had followed them. But of course it wasn't a big deal, they would return.

Or so we thought. Summer ended and everyone except me and a few others left. Fall came and went with no news from the elite campers. Winter break came and some of the campers returned for two weeks including Sophia. She had a very heated conversation with Mr. D and Chiron the day before she went home. I could tell because I caught snippets of the conversation from the sword training arena.

Then everyone began to realize what it seems only Lucas and I had known up until now. They were never coming back. The Elite children of Victory, Strength, Force and Rivalry would never return to the places where they were heros among heros, Camp Half-Blood.


End file.
